austere

From Ancient Greek αὐστηρός (austērós, “bitter, harsh, astringent”), having the specific meaning “making the tongue dry” (originally used of fruits, wines), related to αὔω (aúō, “to singe”), αὖος (aûos, “dry”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɒˈstɪə(ɹ)/, /ɔːˈstɪə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɔˈstiɹ/, enPR: ôstēr′
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑˈstiɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

austere (comparative austerer or more austere, superlative austerest or most austere)

1. Grim or severe in manner or appearance.

   Synonyms: stern, strict, forbidding, ascetic; see also Thesaurus:stern

   The headmistress was an austere old woman.

2. Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy.

   Synonyms: simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished; see also Thesaurus:unadorned

   Antonyms: overwrought, flamboyant, extravagant, gaudy, flashy; see also Thesaurus:gaudy

   The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.

3. Adhering to the economic policy of austerity.
   • 2024 December 14, Reece Martin, “Learning from Melbourne’s Level Crossing Removal Project” (9:05 from the start), in RMTransit‎^[1]:

     Counterintuitively, in an effort to be austere and save money, cities which only remove a crossing every couple of years manage to be way less efficient at it than Melbourne has been.

4. Harsh; astringent.
   • 1862, Charles Pierpoint Johnson, The Useful Plants of Great Britain, page 85:

     It is like a small plum, nearly globular in shape, black covered with a bluish bloom, and with a very austere taste.

• IPA^(key): /awsˈtɛ.re/
• Rhymes: -ɛre
• Hyphenation: au‧stè‧re

austere

1. feminine plural of austero

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [au̯sˈteː.rɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [au̯sˈt̪ɛː.re]

austēre

1. vocative masculine singular of austērus

• “austere”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “austere”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Perhaps related to Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon).

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austere f (5th declension)

1. oyster (certain edible bivalve mollusks of the order Ostreida)

   austeru zveja ― oyster fishing

   rīt austeres ― to swallow oysters

   austeru lasītāji un lasītājas tur brida kailām kājām ― male and female oyster collectors were wading there (= in shallow water) barefoot

Borrowed from Latin austērus.

austere m or f (plural austeres)

1. austere; severe

• haustere
• auster (masculine only)

Borrowed from Latin austērus.

austere m (oblique and nominative feminine singular austere)

1. (of a flavor) acrid; bitter
2. austere; severe